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Svwewfoz F. P. HILDEBRANDT.

FOLDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION men SEPT 14. I916.

Patented July 12, 1921'.

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. F. P. HILDEBRANDT FOLDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT 14,1916.

Patented July 12, 1921.

4 SHEETSSHEET 2.

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FOLDING MACHINE.

APPLICATlON FILED SEPT. I4, 1916.

Patented July 12, 1921.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

F.- P. HILDEBRANDT.

FOLDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT 14. me.

Patented J uly 12, 1921.

$ M flflozncgs PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK I. HILDEBRANDT, OF SAUGER'IIES, NEW YORK.

FOLDING-MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 12, 1921.

Application filed September 14, 1916. Serial No. 120,036.

7 '0 all 1/) from it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK P. HILDE- BRANDT, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Saugerties, .in the county of Ulster and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Folding-Machines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in folding machines, and is particularly useful in connection with the making of folded paper napkins from a web of napkin paper.

Various features and improvements will more clearly appear from the detailed description given below, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings which form a part of this specification and which illustrate a machine embodying the improvements in one form.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical section of the machine;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view thereof;

Fig. 3 is an end view thereof;

1 Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the lay y;

Fig. 5 is a perspective of the folded napkin;

Fig. 6 is a face view of the folding blade;

Fig. 7 is a section of the same;

Fig. 8 is a perspective of the cam gear operating the folding blade; and

Fig. 9 is a perspective of the arrangement for adjusting a bearing for one of the rollers.

Referring to the drawings, 1 represents a suitable frame, and 2 an arm carrying a supply roll 3 from which the paper web 4 is unwound. The web 4 passes upwardly between a set of pressure feeding rolls 5 and 6, and then between a set of pressure feeding rolls 7 and 8. The roll 5 is driven from the roll 8 by means of a belt 9, and the web 4 passes over idler rolls 10 and 11 between the sets of feeding rolls 5, 6 and 7, 8, and in such a manner that 'a loose loop is formed between the sets of feeding rolls 5, 6 and 7, 8. After leaving the feed rolls 7, 8 the web 4 passes over a triangular shaped former 12 so as to produce a fold in the center of the web 4. After leaving the former 12 the web passes between two idler rolls 13 and then between two pressure feeding rolls 14 On leaving the rolls l4 and 15 the web 4 drops downwardly and passes over an inclined guiding member 16 and down between a fixed cutting knife 17 and a rotary cutting knife 18 carried on a shaft 19. The rotary cutting knife 18 cuts the folded web into suitable lengths and the cut portions of the web drop upon traveling belts 20, which carry them forward under an idler pressure roll 21 and partially over onto belts 22 traveling in the same direction as the belts 20. The belts 20 travel over rollers 23, 24 while the belts 22 travel over rollers 25, 26. Located beneath the rollers 24 and 26 are pressure feeding and folding rollers 27 and 28. An oscillating folding blade 29. when the cut portion of the web is located centrally therebeneath, is adapted to descend and force the center of the cut-off portion down between the rollers 27 and 2850 as to produce another fold therein, and the rollers 27 and 28 feed the same downwardly until it drops therefrom into one of the pockets 30 of the lay-boy 31. The lay-boy 31 is carried by a constantly rotating shaft 32 in a counterclockwise direction, so that the folded paper napkins are carried in the pocket 30 in a counter-clockwise direction and are forced out of and ejected from the lay-boy by means of fixed members 33 carried upon the frame of the machine. The

. fixed members 33 engage the edges of the napkin as it is being rotated counter-clockwise, so that the napkins are ejected from the pockets 30 of the lay-boy and deposited upon a traveling belt 34. For this purpose the lay-boy is so constructed that the edges of the napkin project beyond the edges of the pockets 30 so that they will be engaged by the fixed members The napkins are piled upon the belt 34 as indicated at The machine is driven by means of a belt 36 passing over a pulley 37. The pulley 37 is secured to the shaft 32, and upon the other end of the shaft 32 is a bevel gear 38 which drives bevel gear 39 on shaft 40. Bevel gear 41 is secured on shaft 40 and drives bevel gear 42 on shaft 43. Shaft 43 drives shaft 44 by means of bevel gears 45 and 46. The shaft 44 carries a pulley over which the belt 9 runs to drive the roll 5. The shaft 44 also carries the feed roll 8, so that the feed rolls 5 and 8 are driven through the mechanism just described The shaft 32 also carries gear meshing with a gear 47, which in turn meshes with large gear 48 which is carried on shaft 49 over which the belt 34 passes in order that the belt 34 may be driven thereby very slowly. The shaft carries a worm (not shown) whichmeshes with a worm gear 50 which carries an electrical contact 51 adapted to engage a fixed contact 52 carried by the frame of the machine, once upon each revolution of the worm gear 50. Suitable electrical conductors 53, 54 lead to the contacts 51 and 52, the connection of the conductor 53 to the contact 51 being through the gear 50. Once for each revolution of the gear 50 contact 51 engages contact 52, and through the conductors 53 54 closes an electrical circuit which is designed to cause the ringing of a hell or give any other suitable signal to indicate to the operator that a certain number ofnapkins have been folded, so that the operator may remove this definite number of napkins from the belt 34, for packing and shipment.

The shaft 32 carries adjacent the pulley 37 a gear 55'which'meshes with a gear 56 carried upon the shaft 19. At its opposite end, the shaft 19 is provided with a gear 57 which meshes on one side with a gear 58 for driving the roll 15. The shaft 19 also carries a gear 64whicl1 meshes with a gear on the end of-roller 28, for the purpose of driving the same, the gear on the end of the roller 28 meshing with a similar gear on the end ofroller 27 so that the latter is also driven thereby. Secured also to the end of the roller '27 and driven thereby, is a gear 59. The gear 59 meshes with a gear 60 on shaft of roll 25 for'thepurpose driving roll 25 so as todrive the belts 22. Loosely jour na led on the shaft of roll 25 is a rack 61 having an arm 62 connected therewith, which arm is provided on its end with a roller engaging a cam groove 63 on the face of said gear 64 secured to the shaft 19 (see also Fig. 8). The rack 61 engages a gear 65 011' shaft 66 to which arms 67 are connected which arms 67 carry on their ends the folding blade 29, so that each time the arm 62 is lifted by reason of the cam 63, the rack 61 causes the gear 65 to rotate in a clockwise direction, causing the arm 67 to descend and the folding blade 29 to force the folded cut-off portion of the web down between the feeding and folding rollers 27 and 28. The blade 29 is preferably scalloped on its lower edge, as shown in Fig. 6, so that it will force the paper sufficiently between the rollers 27 and 28 that they may secure a firm bite upon the paper. 7

The roller 14 is carried by swinging arms 68, and springs 69 normally tend to pull the roller 14 toward the roller 15 in order to provide the desired folding and feeding pressure between these rollers,

It'will be apparent from the above description that my device performs the steps of folding, cutting and then again folding crape paper while it is not under tension. with the result that the portions cut oil and folded are of uniform size and shape. hie of the features of my invention which contriluitcs toward the above stated result is the fact that the crape paper is under the control of a single controlling means, namely, the rollers 14 and 15, at the time when it is bcinsr cut and, therefore, so long as it is held only at one place it cannot possibly be stretched at the time it is cut, because the cutting tltYlt't is of such a character that it does not of itself impart any movement or stretrhimr tension to the paper while cutting it. nother feature contributing toward the above stated result is the bolt conveying means for the cut portions of the web. wherein the crape paper merely lies upon and is supported by the belt conveyors 20 and and is not under tension at the time when it folded by the blade 29. The loop 4 also reduces the tension on the web to that force which is necessary to lift one-half of the loop against the action of gravity. rttor the web is once folded there is no force art ing to draw it along and distort it, but it moves along by gravity or by lying upon a moving conveyor. A. web moving along a surface under the action of gravity or by being pushed along is not under tension but. if that web is crape paper, it cannot be relied upon to move along the surface in the desired manner but it, is very likely to crnmplc or catch or, by confining air beneath it to be lifted away from the surface and misdirc -t ed. I have therefore found it to be of great advantage in conducting the severed portions of crape paper to have a member moving in the direction in which the web is to move and adapted to engage the web. For example. the belt conveyors or conducting i'neinbers 20 and 22.

At the top of the machine there are provided on each side of the web t as it leaves the rollers 7 and 8, upright guidimg members 70. The former 12 is secured to a sin: ft 71, which shaft may he oscillated slightly by means of; a worm gear 72 and a worm T3 to which is attached a handle 7 t, so that upon turning the handle 74 the shaft 71 may be oscillated or rotated slightly in order to swing the former l2 outwardly and inwardly slightly to adjust the same to ditl'erent widths of paper webs and bring the told of the web produced thereby to the desired position with respect to the rollers it and if.

The position of the guiding member 16 may be adjusted by means of a scrcnv 75 which is adapted to slightly more a block 76 to which the guiding member 6 is attached. The roll 27 is carried in suitable bearings one of which is il ustrated at 7 T in Fig. 9. Bearing 77 is slidablc along a ltlt) lltl llb

guide member 78 and may be adjusted to the desired position thereon by means of screws 79. The roller 23 is driven by means of a gear 80 secured thereon, which meshes with the gear 64:.

The rollers 5, 6, 7, 8, 13, 14, 15, 21, 27 and 28 are preferably rubber covered in order that they may properly grip the paper or other web.

LS stated at the beginning of this specification, the invention relates to a folding machine for folding paper napkins from a web of napkin paper. As is well understood, this napkin paper is also known as crape paper. It is well understood by those versed in this art that crape paper has many pecul- 'ar qualities, such, for instance, as its ability to stretch, due to the crape and dependent upon the amount of crape put in the paper. It is also a well recognized fact that papers of different qualities will be differently affected when run through the same craping machine. That is to say, the amount of crape placed in the paper and therefore the amount of elasticity or stretchiness will likewise differ in papers of different grade. This quality will also vary in the same roll of paper due to the fact that the quality of the paper is different at different points in the roll.

It is also well recognized by those versed in the napkin trade that napkins in order to be salable must be of uniform length. This espectially true of the higher grades of napkins. This elastic feature of the crape paper makes the treatment of this paper a distinct; problem and one fraught with many diiliculties not met with in the treatment of ordinary plain paper. In fact, heretofore, it was considered impracticable to cut and fold crape paper napkins by machinery, and it was the general practice, prior to my invention to cut and. fold these articles by hand.

By the above arrangement I have produced a macl'iine which produces, rapidly, folded napkins, of uniform dimensions, from crape paper with a great deal of economy and cheapness.

It will of course, be understood that many changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention in its broader aspects, and hence l desire to cover all forms coming within the language of the appended claims.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a machine of the class described, the combination of a support for a web of crape paper to be cut and folded, a set of pressure feed rolls for feeding the web, a set of pres sure feed rolls for receiving the web from a loose loop of the web between the sets of pressure feed rolls, a former receiving the web after it leaves the second mentioned pressure rolls, and adapted to produce a fold in the web, means cutting the web into suitable uniform lengths and a single means controlling the movement of the web after it leaves said former and before it is cut, and means for folding the cut lengths.

2. In a machine of the class described, the combination of means for feeding a web of crape paper, means for cutting the web into suitable lengths, a pair of folding rollers, an oscillating folding blade for forcing the cut web portions between said folding rollers, a lay-boy receiving the cut and folded web portions, a rack and gear operating said folding blade, and a cam operating said rack and gear.

8. In a machine of the class described, a support for a web of crape paper, two sets of feed rollers for n'iaintaining a loop of web to eliminate tension, a former receiving and folding the web after it passesthe second of said sets of feed rollers, a set of feed rollers horizontally positioned and receiving and supporting the web after it leaves said former, and means for cutting the folded web as it hangs suspended in said last named feed rollers.

4. In a device of the class described, means for cutting a web of crape paper without imparting movement thereto, a single means controlling the movement of the web thereto, whereby it without tension when cut, a conveyer upon which cut portions of the web lie after cutting, and means for folding the cut portions lying upon said conveyor without tension.

In a device of the class described, means for cutting a web of crape paper without imparting movement thereto, a single means controlling the movement of the web thereto, whereby it is without tension when cut, means for supporting cut portions of the web for movement without tension, and means for folding the cut portions of the web while supported by said last named means without tension.

6. T he method of cutting and folding uniform lengths from a web of crape paper which consists in cutting the web into desired lengths while it is without tension. receiving and conveying such cut portions without tension, and folding them without tension while controlled by the conveying operation.

7. In a device of the class described, a pair of rolls for feeding a web of crape paper, means for cutting said web without applying tension thereto as it hangs from said rolls, means for receiving and conveying such cut portions of the crape web and means for folding said portions without tension while in the control of said last named means.

8. In a device of the class (l6SC1'lbOd.,Il1GLIlS for cutting into lengths a web of crape paper while it is without tension, a pair of rollers, a conveying belt for receiving such cut por tions and running on said rollers, another roller adjacent one of the rollers of said belt, a folding knife and means for actuating said knife to strike out portions of the web received by said belt intermediate their ends and double said portions between said adjacent rollers.

9. In a machine of the class described, means for severing lengths from a web of crape paper while the web is without tension, means including a moving member adapted to cngz'lge said severed lengths for conducting them without imparting tension thereto, and means for folding the severed lengths while being conducted by said conducting means without tension.

10.111 a device of the class described. means for cutting a web oi crape paper while it is without tension, a pair ol rollers, a belt running over said rollers and positioned below Said cutting means, means for holding the cut portions of the web and said belt in juxtapositiom another roller adjacent one of said first named rollers, a folding knife, and means for actuating said knife to strike the cut portions oi the web intermediate their ends and double said portions between said adjacent rollers.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

FRANK I. HILDlllll-IAN Dl".

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